Belts are worn by people on their pants and on dresses and on their coats, among other clothing. Watch bands are worn by people primarily on their wrist. The present invention is an adjustable fastener that has applications similar to the uses of a belt and a watch band and other uses where an adjustable fastener may be employed.
The prior art in belts requires that a belt be made for one size only such as for a 32 inch waist or a 34 inch waist and generally can accommodate a waist only within a few inches of the designated size for the belt. Most belts merely have holes in the first portion of the belt and a buckle in the second portion of the belt wherein the first portion of the belt is inserted into the buckle and connected thereto as is commonly known. Belts used by police officers and other peace officers and law enforcement officers commonly use a belt that is known as the Sam Browne belt. The Sam Browne belt is the closest art in the prior art to the invention herein. The buckle of the Sam Browne belt is similar to the buckle used in the invention herein in that the buckle is removeable from the second portion of the Sam Browne belt and comprises a bar, a frame and two hooks that are installed in two holes in an upper and lower row on the Sam Browne belt. The Sam Browne belt also has a middle row of holes in the second portion of the belt similar to the invention herein with cuts at the holes. The length of the Sam Browne belt may be adjusted by moving the buckle along the strap to a different set of holes. However, if the Sam Browne belt is too big for the person using it the Sam Browne belt may be made to fit a smaller person by moving the buckle towards the middle of the Sam Browne belt which results in an unduly and unsightly long portion of the tongue of the Sam Browne belt extending outward from the person. The bar in the buckle of the Sam Browne belt is attached to two hooks in the first portion of the Sam Browne belt. Because of this the Sam Browne belt is very limited in its adjustment, for example, a 34 inch Sam Browne belt may be adjusted to accommodate a maximum size of 36 inches and a minimum size of 32 inches. By contrast, the invention herein may be adjusted to virtually any size.
The two hooks at the buckle in the Sam Browne belt are connected by a straight flat piece of metal and this piece of metal is connected to the first portion of the Sam Browne belt by wrapping the end of the first portion of the Sam Browne belt around the flat piece of metal that connects the two hooks and then riveting the wrapped around portion of the belt to the portion of the belt just prior to it being wrapped around and then, in addition sewing the two pieces together. Thus the hooks that engage the buckle are firmly attached in the Sam Browne belt and are not adjustable at all. A pad is placed behind the hooks in the Sam Browne belt and a short metal bar having a spherical top is connected to the first portion of the Sam Browne belt for the purpose of inserting the spherical portion into a hole in the middle row of the second portion of the Sam Browne belt to help keep the end of the second portion of the Sam Browne belt close towards the first portion of the Sam Browne belt and prevent it from sticking out further than it otherwise would. This spherical ball resembles the stud used in the invention herein except that the spherical ball is not removeable and does not use a lock retainer and does not have a recess for lock retainer. With the exception of the foregoing there are no other similarities between the Sam Browne belt and the invention herein.
There are belts that are adjustable and are made similar to suspenders. Such belts are not suitable for police officers or members of law enforcement because police officers put a large amount of heavy equipment on their belts and a rather wide and thick and strong belt is required to support such equipment which suspender type belts will not do.
Wrist watch bands in the prior art are made similar to conventional belts and like the Sam Browne belt and suffer from the same disadvantages as the prior art belts. These type of prior art watch bands are usually made with a strap and have a buckle similar to the prior art belts previously discussed. These type of watch bands have the same disadvantages as the prior art belts in that their adjustment is very limited. Other types of watch bands are made of metal and are expandable such as the commonly known Speidel watch band. The metal type watch bands require the removal or insertion of links in order to adjust the size of the watch band.
Lock retainers, also known as rings have existed in the prior art for some time and may be purchased at the appropriate store. However, no known prior art uses a lock retainer on a belt or watch band or similar fastener. Snaps have been used in the prior art for some time, for example, to snap blue jeans together at the waist and to snap together other articles of clothing such as shirts and coats. However, the snap in the invention herein is used in a unique manner to not only snap the watch in place but also to secure the watch to the strap in the event that the snap becomes unsnapped in the embodiment used as a watch band. No known prior art accomplishes this.
Spring bars have been known in the prior art for some time and are used, for example, on watches where the band is attached to the watch. The prior art spring bar is typically shaped like a cylindrical rod having a very small diameter in which the top portion of the rod has a spring between it and the bottom portion of the rod so that the top portion of the rod can be moved down over the bottom portion of the rod and then will return to its original position by the spring inside. The same technique is used with the bar in the buckle of the invention herein to make the bar easily removeable from the frame of the buckle. None of the known prior art uses a spring bar on a belt or a watch band or any other similar fastener.
None of the prior art suggests or uses a removeable or adjustable yoke like in the invention herein. None of the known prior art suggests or uses a removeable stud like the stud in the invention herein. As such the invention herein is unique and novel.
It is unknown whether the Sam Browne belt has ever been patented and it is unknown whether there are any written materials describing it. It is unknown whether or not there are any patents in the prior art in the field that the invention herein is in and it is unknown whether there are any written materials describing the prior art.